Radovan Karadzic challenges Srebrenica toll

The former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said he wants to use DNA tests to establish that the death toll from the Srebrenica massacre has been exaggerated.

Radovan Karadzic: the former Bosnian Serb leader has claimed the toll at the Srebrenica massacre, where 8,000 were killed, has been exaggerated. Photo: AP

By Our Foreign Staff and Agencies in The Hague

5:18PM BST 23 Jul 2009

At a pre-trial hearing in The Hague, Karadzic asked for access to DNA evidence, claiming that the actual toll of Muslim men and boys slaughtered by his forces at Srebrenica is "thousands" below the widely accepted figure of about 8,000.

"Everything in relation to Srebrenica that has been presented so far is erroneous," he claimed. "We do not have a clear picture."

He said hat uncertainty surrounds "thousands of victims" and that people whose names appear on gravestones are alive.

Many of those listed as dead at Srebrenica had in fact died elsewhere during the Bosnian war, or now are living outside the country, he claimed.

"We are convinced that there is a manifold exaggeration here," he added, demanding that experts working on his defence case be granted access to DNA evidence compiled by prosecutors to verify the "methodology" used.

Karadzic, 63, was arrested in Belgrade last year after living in disguise as an alternative medicine practicioner.

His claim, which is likely to cause distress to the families of the victims, was made ahead of his trial at the United Nations' International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in Holland.

He will stand trial on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Bosnia's 1992-95 war.

Prosecutors have charged Karadzic with genocide for allegedly masterminding the mass slayings at what was supposed to be a UN safe haven at Srebrenica. It is considered Europe's worst atrocity since the Second World War.